Stearns County Recognizes Drug Court 10th Anniversary

ST. CLOUD -- Stearns County's Drug Court holds a ceremony tomorrow to mark its 10th anniversary.

The ceremony will bring to St. Cloud, justices from the state's Supreme Court and Appeals Court. Minnesota District Court judge and President of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Robert Rancourt will attend as will Senator Amy Klobuchar and Stearns County Drug Court originator Judge Bernard Boland.

County Attorney Janelle Kendall will present findings from a recidivism study showing 3-out-of-4 drug court graduates remained crime free. When minor traffic offenses were removed, 8-out-of-10 of the graduates stayed out of trouble. Kendall says that compares to only 41% -- or 4-out-of-10 -- who remained crime free after serving traditional probation.

Kendall says even those who didn't graduate drug court had a lower recidivism rate than those who never participated.

West Huddleston, a pioneer in drug courts and other alternative sentencing strategies, and also Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals will be here to present Stearns County's Drug Court with an award.

The ceremony will be held at 1:00 p.m. in the Stearns County Courthouse's Ceremonial Courtroom.